Sudden Sorrows
by Andil
Summary: -Complete-What happens when Severus is told the worst news of all--- and how will he deal with the secrets exposed afterwords? My responce to Droxy's Final Goodbye short story challenge
1. Default Chapter

A/N- I spotted this challenge, so I am attempting it. This is a response to Droxy's Final Goodbye short story challenge(posted on lord and lady snape). I hope you read this, and enjoy.

And just in case you don't know about this challenge, then I shall warn you now it is going to be angsty, and it involves death. Just so you know.

Disclaimer: As always, these characters, and this world do not belong to me, no matter how badly I wish them to be. They belong to J.K. Rowling. In fact, the basics of the story really don't belong to me either; they belong to Droxy, who is the creator of this challenge.

Anyways, enough of my rambling and on to the story…

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**Sudden Sorrows- Chapter 1**

She coughed as she made her way down the hall, stumbling as she fought to keep control of her legs. As a sudden new wave of nausea passed her she fell to her knees, fighting to stay awake. _No… Not now… So close…_

She pursed her lips as she forced herself to her feet and inched closer to her designation. She fought to control the unbearable coughs when she finally arrived in front of the painting. She held her wand tightly in her hand as she found breath in between her coughs enough to harshly whisper out, "Alohamora." The painting swung open and she took out the box inside with shaking hands, falling to her knees the moment that she had the precious object in her hands.

Just then a very painful cough reverberated painfully through her body, and she noticed the deep red that now was staining her hands. A numbing dizziness fell her senses, and she barely even noticed when she hit the floor. Her breath became labored as she looked at where the box had fallen. As well as the bottle of ink she needed to complete her task. Panic quickly fled through her body at this discovery. _No! I must…He needs to… _

With a last burst of energy she stretched her hand towards the ink, only to have it land on the box, but noticed that the blood she had coughed up had rubbed on the wood. Even now, her mind raced and a thought emerged from its depths. _It could work…_In a hoarse whisper came, "Severus gravis scribere." And as her vision began to blur, she saw the glow of the words as they took shape upon the box. A small smile formed upon the corner of her lips, and then she succumbed to the urge to close her eyes.

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**Sudden Sorrows- Chapter one**

Severus Snape, feared potion's master of Hogwarts, and currently the most annoyed person within the entire school, stood in front of his current first year class. It was only the third week into the school year, and already they were trying his patience with pranks, and botched potions. Not that he wasn't expecting it, but this was by far too soon. Besides, he had other things on his mind at the moment; like how to tell his new wife, of just a mere two months, that he had just arranged for their residence to be moved to his estate in Romania, near the new research facility she had been so eager to work in. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and then scolded one of the students, who had obviously thought that etching designs into the desk in front of him was by far more interesting than the class assignment.

Just as he was about to deduct points from the aforementioned Gryffindor, the door to his classroom creaked opened. His eyes wandered to the offender; ready to reprimand whomever it was that had just interrupted his class. But instead of a student, it was one Albus Dumbledore standing there inside the doorway; looking perhaps the most solemn he had ever seen before. That could not be good. He straightened his back, and tilted his head in question. "Yes…?" Severus watched the slight twitching of the old man's facial muscles, as the Headmaster thought of what to say. The slight frown that briefly formed there and the light twitch of the man's eyebrows always seemed to go with bad news for him. Like when he had been told that his father had died, or when that indeed no, he did _not _expel the marauders for nearly killing him.

"I need to speak with you, it is of the… utmost importance, my boy. Alone." His voice was softer than he had ever heard before, and there was a deep sadness in the tone that made Severus involuntarily shudder. This definitely could not be good. Not good at all. A sudden panic filled his heart and he felt his lungs tighten. He moved his head ever so slightly to the students to hiss out "Class dismissed." He did not let his gaze leave the man before him as the class fled the room.

Albus shut the door as the last student left. He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and then motioned towards the nearest chair. "Please, Severus… You may wish to sit for this…"

Severus slowly sunk into the chair. "Albus… What is all this about?" He tried to hide the fact that his hands were shaking just slightly by holding onto the arms. _What could it be? What could be so horrible that he would have me dismiss my class?_

The headmaster, too, sunk into the chair across from him. "Severus… I… There is really no easy way to tell you…"

"Tell me what? I haven't been… released, have I?" He attempted to work out the worst in his mind, when a thought came to him. A horrid thought. _No, that simply cannot be… can it? _He quickly shook his head to remove the atrocious thought from his mind.

"No, unfortunately it is not something so light as that." _No…_ "A man from the ministry came to me just a few moments ago, and he… He told me…" Albus paused to take a deep breath himself, he too, saddened from the coming news. _No… _

"Albus…" His voice came out scratchier than he intended it to be, hoping beyond hope that somehow that his intuition was for once wrong. That just once his conscious mind had deceived him.

"You have become like a son to me, Severus, and you know that I will always be there for you. You will always have people who love you, and care for you, even if you don't see it yourself." _No…_

The man was avoiding the subject. "Albus…" By now his nails were starting to wear through the fabric as he attempted to hide his windmill of emotions from the elder man.

"Severus… It seems that your wife has had some sort of… disease, for quite some time now, and…"

Severus felt his stomach plummet to the floor, and twist in agony. _It can't be… _"She has been in perfect health, Albus, you have seen her."

"Severus, I… I did, and no one else knew, either. From time to time these things happ-" He was not able to finish his sentence.

"Not to her! She is in _perfect _health, and furthermore-" This time it was Severus who was cut off.

"Severus, they found her body in the hallway of her old apartment this morning. I'm sorry, so sorry…"

Severus sat eerily still, his hands turning white as they gripped at the arms of the chair. Suddenly he slowly started to shake his head.

"You're lying. I was with her just last night, and she seemed, she was… She was smiling, and laughing, and…" He trailed off, his throat starting to close on him. He felt a hand on his shoulder then, and noticed that at some point Albus had stood and come over to comfort him. His muscles tensed. "Leave me be."

The elder man nodded and placed something on the desk beside him. "This was found next to her, I believe this is meant for you…" With that the headmaster quietly left the room, leaving Severus alone. He grabbed the wrapped object Albus had left him with and walked numbly to his quarters. She couldn't be dead… It must have been some sort of sick prank. Whoever's idea this was, was going to pay. He shut the door behind him, and looked around, half expecting his wife to be sitting at the table as she usually did at this time of day. She wasn't. He fell into the chair at that table and looked at the package in his hands, and then placed it upon the table.

"Hermione…" He didn't even fully realize he had spoken her name aloud.

Gingerly, with shaking hands, he opened it. The small threads fell to the table as a rush of nausea passed through his body. It was a box. And written neatly on it was –SEVERUSIMPORTANT-

But that is not what sent reality crashing down on him in sick waves.

It was the fact that the inscription on the box, was written in blood.


	2. 2

A/N- As needed for this challenge, this will be done by June 1st

Disclaimer: Once again, it isn't mine… sigh

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**Chapter 2**

All he needed to do was open the box, though he could not bring himself to do it just yet. It seemed to him… wrong somehow. For nearly an hour he sat, staring at it, this last thing of his wife's. During this time thoughts tumbled through his head, leading this way and that way, until finally settling on one in particularly disturbing feeling. _She knew…_

He was not able to dwell long upon this thought though. For soon his chamber doors opened to reveal the official that had announced her death. Severus did not turn his gaze from the box when he spoke. "May I help you?"  
"We need you to come and… identify the body. I am sorry for any inconvenience to you, sir."

"Inconvenience?" His voice was so low it was hardly even audible. Then he turned to face the official, who immediately shrunk away from him the moment Severus reached full height. "If you would call all of… this, an inconvenience to me, I would believe you are highly understating it."

"I apologize, but please…"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose, just then noticing he had not let go of the box. He sighed, and then waved his hand in an offhand manner. "I will go."

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He had followed in a haze. He felt numb, as if something vital had been ripped from his very being. He tried to focus on the things Albus was saying, who had tagged along for some reason that he had not fully comprehended, but they would not penetrate his mind. He couldn't even think any longer, it seemed. _Not that I even wish that…_

Suddenly he found himself walking down the hallway of the ministry, and then into a room. It held a large canopy bed in the center, and within it lay an angel… _It looks as if she is sleeping, so peaceful…_ He did not fully comprehend what he was doing, but suddenly she was in his arms, and he hugged her to him as if his very life depended upon it. "Hermione…" He buried his head into her hair. "Wake up… Don't leave me… Don't leave me… Hermione please…"

His body began to shake as he held her. _So cold… She is so cold…_He continued to hold her, momentarily noticing that Albus had everyone leave the room. He pressed his lips to hers, and felt himself choke at the unmoving coldness of them. It was so unfair… He had lost a whole year with her because of his pride, and now he had lost her forever. It simply wasn't fair. What had she ever done to the gods to deserve this fate? Oh sure, he would deserve it, many times over he deserved it, yet death always seemed to dance right over him as if it were as repulsed by him as most his students.

Carefully he laid her back onto the bed, caressing her cheek absently. Then his thoughts returned. _She was sick… I never knew… _"How long… How long did you know Hermione?" Anger suddenly boiled up within him and he grabbed a candlestick on the side-table and threw it across the room. "How long did you deceive me? How dare you… How dare you leave me… as if it were nothing?"

He continued his ranting, until finally his anger started to seethe away into the numbness he had felt before, and he sat, staring at her. _She is far too still…_

"Yes, Severus she is." The headmaster's voice seemed far off, and he patted Severus on the shoulder. "It seems that she left instructions to have a burning."

"I see."

"It shall be in the morning." He turned to leave, but paused when he heard Severus speak.

"Headmaster…" He still did not shift his gaze from the body of his wife.

"Yes?"

"Thank you…" He left the list unspoken. _For being there, for letting me have these last moments with my wife before… _He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought. He took his box, and stalked out of the room, his robes flowing behind him.

What he did not hear was when Albus whispered after him, "I still worry for you…"

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Severus wasn't able to sleep; he simply stared at the bed all night- _their bed. _How could he sleep there again? Now that she no longer be sharing it with him? The answer was simple to him at the time- he wouldn't sleep. So now, as he sat in front of the large tower of wood where at the top his Hermione lay, he not only felt numb, but dizzy from tiredness as well. He was still holding the unopened box. It was during this time that the infamous duo came- Ron Weasley and Harry bloody Potter.

Harry stopped briefly in front of him, his face contorted in anger. "I'm sure I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that you had something to do with this." At the unexpected words, Severus looked up, and narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"And I am sure that you _knew_ that this was going to happen." His words were quiet and cutting. He kept his eyes narrowed until Ron pushed him away.

"_Harry!_ Not now… Not here."

The ceremony continued, the elaborate goodbyes, the reflections. He himself did not stand when it came time for either of these. He couldn't even bring himself to move, it was hard enough for him to manage breathing as it was. Besides, there was nothing that he could really add… Everyone had already known, she was wonderful, brilliant, wonderful sense of humor, and… She was everything to him. And he never really told her enough; he had only admitted it once to her, that night three months ago when he proposed to her… And now…

He stared at the mass of wood in front of him, refusing to focus on any more of the words spoken of her. All too soon her father went up and lit the fires, starting the most brilliant, and horrible, bonfire he had ever seen. There was an urn at the bottom of the stack that was magically charmed to catch only her ashes, so that is where he watched.

Even after the fires had stopped, he watched, unmoving from his spot. The turmoil inside his heart consumed him, making him ache dully from the inside out. _She's gone…_

Ron watched him, silently through the service. He had never approved of Hermione's marriage to Snape, as his hatred for the man in school carried on into adulthood. Though, even he could see the softness in his eyes when he looked to Hermione on their wedding day. He wasn't so disapproving that he would not be there for his best friend on her wedding day. Only it was now that he could see how much the man cared for her, he had never seen him look so lost before…

"I bet it was his fault, I wouldn't even put it past him if he poisoned her. I _knew _she should never have married him, Ron. I knew it would end out in disaster." Ron glared at Harry.

"Get off it, will you Harry? The man just lost his wife. Even I can sympathize with that, not to mention we are at her funeral! I highly doubt she would appreciate you speaking badly of the man she fell in love with." With that Ron left his friend standing there, looking after him dumfounded.

"I didn't realize… I didn't mean…" Harry fell back into his chair, burying his face within his hands as Ron came to stand behind Snape. Noticing just then that the man was holding onto a box so tightly; a small trickle of blood fell down his hands.

A hand upon his shoulder startled Severus from his silent reverie. He felt his muscles tighten, and then relax again as the grip became tighter. At the time he wasn't sure of who was there, but he did not care, really. There was someone there, odd as it was, showing that they cared about him, even in the slightest way, and it comforted him some. A moment went by in silence, and then the owner of the hand sat next to him. Without looking up, he whispered to his visitor, "She never told me she was sick…" He trailed off, and felt the hand give his shoulder a little squeeze.

"I don't believe any of us really knew, Professor." He was startled by the voice to look up. Ronald Weasley, of all the people there, had come to him, of all the people there.

"Weasley." He looked away from the boy again when he seen him give his trademark lopsided grin of his, and then the boy spoke softly to him.

"When she told us about… you, we argued with her. Harry never has understood, but I love her enough to accept her decision. I love her, but she never could return it for me. I know that she loved you, Professor. More than I could ever really love her, and I knew… I knew that you must have loved her very much, just by the way her face lit up when she spoke of you. Ever since you first hooked up three years ago. I…" His voice faltered briefly here, "I wanted to thank you for making her so happy."

Just as Ron finished his speech, Hermione's urn was taken inside. If it had been that, the revelation about how happy he had actually made Hermione during the end of her life, or simply the fact that all of his pent up emotions finally just came tumbling down on him all at once that caused his shield to fall, he was not sure. But suddenly his body started to shake, the inevitable silent sobs took over his body, and he hunched over burying his head within his arms as he released his misery as Ron watched helplessly.

From behind them, Harry watched in horrid realization on how much the man had cared for his best friend. He had just watched the man, of whom he thought was the most callous, uncaring person in the world, break down into tears in front of his very eyes.

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It had been nearly a week, and he still was not able to open the box. _What is wrong with me? She wanted me to open it…_

Though to spite the fact that he had attempted it many times after her funeral, he just couldn't bring himself to finish the task. It had been just the day before that he went back to teaching classes, and he sat at his desk, correcting papers. But the box kept distracting his attention. It taunted him, drawing his interest in it. He started to glare at it. "Stop staring at me." _That is it, I have lost my mind…_

He took a deep breath, pushed aside the papers on his desk, and moved the box in front of him. He moved his fingers towards the front latch on the box, trying to keep them steady enough to open the thing. _Come on Severus, you big idiot, it is merely a box, you are acting like a bloody first year dunderhead who thinks that cauldron's bite you…_

With a quick lick of his lips, he unlatched the box, and shoved it open in one quick motion. _There, now it is open._ Now all he had to do was open his eyes. He gave a half wince as he did, wondering what sort of thing she felt important enough to leave for him. When he saw what lay inside he half laughed.

A key- a bloody _key._ He looked at the small tag attached to it.

_Severus, look inside the desk in the study. Lift the wood underneath, and you will find what I have left for you._

He raised a brow at this, and did as she said. Sure enough, the desk drawer she spoke of was locked. He had never realized this before, how long had it been locked? He shook his head of this thought and unlocked the drawer. He emptied it, and sighed before lifting up the bottom of the drawer. He had come to far to quit now…

He lifted it up, and outright laughed at what he found underneath. There was hardly any space underneath the piece of wood, just enough room for what she left. He smirked, even in her death she was up to her old tricks. His throat clenched momentarily at the inadvertent thought, and he cleared his mind again. Now he was determined. Whatever it was she wanted to tell him, he was going to find out what it was, and he would die trying. He picked up the small key inside and headed towards Diagon Alley.

Towards Gringott's vault 493.

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A/N- Please review! I am a horrible review junkie, lol. And trust me, I read them all, no matter what they really say.


	3. 3

A/N- Yay! And done by the deadline too! LoL. Anyways, I hope you like this last chapter; you finally get to find out what the secret is…

Disclaimer- Well, my last name starts with the same letter as hers… attempts to compare, but fails All right, so I am NOT J.K. Rowling. I suppose I shall live… Sniffle

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**_Chapter 3_**

Severus sat silently as the mine car whirled wildly about the large bank. His mind turned things over and over within his head. _What could she have left for me?_ Oddly enough, his mind would not settle long enough on just one thing to clearly answer this question. After all, she had kept her illness a secret, so what if what she had left him was something else of that matter? No, it was better to not think that way…

Yet… He did. _I can't do this…I can't go on alone…_He clenched his jaw- none of this was fair. Four years with her was just plainly, not enough for him. She had weaseled her way into his heart nearly a month after the defeat of Voldemort. She had surprisingly (or not so surprisingly, considering the way the girl always sought after knowledge) shown up for a RADP(Recent Artistic Dabbling in Potions) meeting, and had pitched in her views. During the course of the meeting, they had a verbal sparring that rose above the rest of the group. She soon had joined into the regular meetings, and he found out that she had just as dry a wit as he. "I apologize, Severus, but I simply can't help it that you can't view the extent of the theory, any further than the length of your nose."

The mine car stopped then, and he was jerked out of his reverie when the goblin announced, "Professor Snape for vault 493." He looked over to the goblin, which was looking decidedly annoyed by his distraction. He then got out of the small compartment, and nodded for the goblin to continue. As the vault 'clicked' when unlocked, he flinched, slightly, and then went through the open door. It was a large room, filled with many books, and after a moment of dazedly looking around, he started to move through it, fingering them. Not one of them was labeled. _How strange…_He was about to pick one of them up, when towards the back he noticed an in particular bookcase, that on the top of it held what looked like a letter. He raised his brow, and went to it.

He picked up the envelope, and felt his brows furrow. _It is unlabeled…_But sheer curiosity drove him on. That was the one thing they did have in common, the never-ending urge to find out everything possible. So he opened it.

_Severus, _

_I knew you would find this easier if I had not put a single marking on the envelope. Your curiosity deceives you, you know. I am finding this hard to put into words, but I know that I must. To spite the fact that I am in fact a Gryffindor, I am in current finding it hard to obtain that characteristic courage they always speak of, at least when it comes to facing you. We have been wed now for a month, and I hope that when you see this letter, I have actually brought you here, or told you before hand what is held within it. The only other option is that… The third option is that in fact what I am mostly telling you in this letter has actually happened, and in that case, then I am sorry. I am so sorry, Severus, for I have deceived you. Not intentionally, mind you, but I just simply could not face losing you. I did not tell you before, because I had thought it was nothing major. They had told me it was a simple infection that would go away in time. _

_During our year apart however, and while I was pregnant, they told me that I had a few years left to live. That something had gotten into my lungs during the final battle, and started to deteriorate them. I spent all my time trying to find a cure. I hope you don't think that I have simply given up, for I haven't. Unfortunately, my lungs have been getting worse, and I fear that I might not have much time left to find this cure for myself. This is why I am writing you this letter, my love. If by chance, this is getting to you by the third option, I have no doubt that none of this is really new to you now. But, there are other things. _

_First, on this bookcase you will find around fifty books. They are in chronological order, so they will be easy enough to keep track of the times in them. These are my diaries. I know what you may be thinking, that the know it all does indeed write EVERYTHING down, if her diary's can fill an entire bookcase, and she is only 24, and to this, I shall retort by sticking my tongue out at you. So there, ha! Now then, as I was saying, they start out when I was 10, just before I started Hogwarts, and I am continuing them on till currently. Every minute detail about my life from that time forward is written in them, and I DO mean everything, so you may wish to keep certain parts from prying eyes, though I do wish for you to share them. Not just with anyone though, mind you. Unfortunately, I have reason behind this._

_For the second thing, and this is what I have been hiding from you, I find this part most difficult. I have kept from you something far more important than my illness, and I beg your forgiveness for my stupidity. I didn't know how you would react when I told you, though I should have told you the very moment you came back to me. But in my selfishness, I did not. I was looking for the right time, or get some hint on how you might feel on the very subject. Now, it has been two months, and I know with my condition becoming worse, I need to let you know, from my own words._

_When you came back to me, I told you I no longer had the baby. You automatically assumed that I had miscarried, or that the baby had died. Oh Merlin, Severus, I am so sorry. I never corrected you on this. I left him with Molly; I couldn't risk having him around, just in case something bad happened to me while I was alone with him. I don't know why I never told you. I was afraid that perhaps you would push us away. Nonetheless, it has been done, and I need you to know. Please forgive me, Severus, and know that I will always love you._

_ --Hermione_

Severus had not allowed himself to think at all as he read the letter, but noticed towards the end that his hands were starting to shake. He laid the paper back onto the bookshelf, and then let out the breath he had not realized he had been holding. Then the thoughts came. _Merlin, I… I have a son…_ The words replayed in his mind over, and over again as he tried to absorb the information. He had gone to her with the knowledge that she had been pregnant, as told to him per Albus, and was willing for whatever that entailed- so long as he could have Hermione back. But she had done as she had said in the letter, and he had assumed the worst, and he did not wish to open new wounds with her at the time, so he never spoke of it again. Now… Now he knew that his assumption had been incorrect.

He knew what he had to do. That child was part of him, but more importantly, a part of her. He knew that he should have felt angry about the lie, but he couldn't. This news, this revelation, seemed to make his heart begin again. _Perhaps it was the shock of it…_ But he didn't care.

Before he left the vault, he shrunk the bookcase and letter, and placed them within a small pouch, where he would safely deliver them to his quarters at Hogwarts, so that he could start reading. Then he left, went to a nearby fireplace on the Floo network, and threw in the powder. "Molly Weasley." He felt the sudden lurch of the transportation, and suddenly was standing in the Weasley house. He dusted off the soot on him, and peered around, just a mere moment before a familiar red-haired girl came down the stairs with a baby, also with red hair.

The girl's eyes went wide in shock, and she stammered out a "P-Professor Snape, sir?" He gave a curt nod to her.

"Ms. Weasley."

She suddenly flushed. "Actually, its now Mrs. Potter, it has been for about two years now." At the mention of the marriage he couldn't help but think of his own. _How much longer… How much longer before everything I see or hear will not make me think of her?_

"I see." He clenched his jaw, and then turned to her, making sure that his emotions were in check. "I have come to see your mother, would you happen to know where she might be, or will I have to attempt to find her myself?"

Before the girl could answer, a voice came from the other direction. "No need for that now. What can I do for you, Professor Snape?"

He swiveled his head towards her. "I would presume that you would know the reason for my visit to you, Molly. I was… Told that you are holding something precious of mine." He had slowly, and carefully pronounced the word 'precious', conveying to her what he had come for, and his feelings on the matter in one fell swoop.

She smiled brilliantly at him then. "Ah, yes, I see. Though I have to admit that I was not expecting you quite so soon. I was prepared for another month or so… Would you perchance like to have some tea before we go up?"

Severus shook his head. "I do believe that I have waited far too long as it is, already." She nodded, and then took him upstairs. "Well, he is in the room down the hall on the right. I believe I will let you be to introduce yourselves. Is there anything else I can do for you right now?"

"Does he have a name?"

"Aurelien Cowen."

His eyes grew wide momentarily, before residing back into their schooled indifference. "My father's name. Very well." He gave her a quick nod before going into the room. It took him only a moment to look inside the large crib just inside the door to become absolutely memorized by the small creature inside. His breath hitched within his throat as the child grabbed onto his finger and cooed at him. It didn't take him very long to take him into his arms in a gentle cradle, letting him play idly with his stray strands of hair. "So, you are Aurelien, then? Nice to meet you, it seems that I am your father, so I hope that the feeling is rather mutual, hm?" The child blew a spit bubble at him, and then fell asleep. He stared at him, admiring the small life that he was holding. He had helped create this… With Hermione… He suddenly had the urge to both laugh and cry at the same time. He felt guilty because he felt such sheer joy at seeing the child for the first time, yet guilty because he could not bring himself to enjoy it more because of the hole inside of his heart. _She should have been here for this._

Severus stood holding him for a while before finally putting him back in the crib, unwillingly. Carefully he exited the room and shut the door, trying not to make any extra sound as he did so. He silently went down the hall, and then nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the bane of his life, Harry Potter, standing at the end of the hall.

"Might I ask why it is that you insist on getting in my way, Mr. Potter, or are you simply _trying _to annoy me?"

The boy looked away and spoke almost inaudibly. "I wanted to apologize."

Snape's eyes grew wide. _Surely I am mistaken on this; surely he did not just attempt to apologize to me. It simply isn't in the boy's nature. _"Pardon?"

"I apologize, Professor Snape." Before Severus could say anything, Harry pressed on in a quick whirlwind of breathless apologies. "I apologize for suspecting you in my first year, I apologize for believing you wanted to destroy me, I apologize for doubting your intentions, I apologize for looking into your pensieve, I apologize for embarrassing you in my seventh year, and foremost I apologize for never believing that you actually could care for Hermione." Harry let out an exasperated sigh. "I am not saying that I suddenly like you, or that I will ever like you. As Hermione once said, the only thing that we would ever probably agree on is the fact that we would give our lives for others, if need be. I have been thinking lately, after her funeral." He paused momentarily, and Snape took advantage.

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter, at conquering that skill. I know you weren't so adept at such things while at Hogwarts." He smirked.

Harry rolled his eyes and gave a half laugh. "At least I know you're always consistent. I actually came mostly to tell you… If you need help, then Ginny would be more than happy to lend you a hand with…" He nodded towards the door behind Snape. "You know. Hermione sent us a letter explaining that even though you have a busy schedule with teaching, you would never ask for help. So I will offer it." He paused again. "For Hermione of course."

Severus raised his fingers to his nose. "How long have you known of him?"

Harry laughed, "I just received the letter."

Severus nodded. "I will consider it then." He looked at him then, and then twisted his lips into a smirk. "For Hermione, of course." To this Harry simply shook his head, and then went back downstairs. He then looked back at the door that held his slumbering son. _He needs me…_ For the first time since his wife's death, he felt his lips twitch for a smile. That is when he knew, that for his son, he would survive, that he would somehow get through this. Somehow…

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A/N- Well, there it is, the end. I hope you liked the story, because if you are reading this you obviously suffered through the entire thing. lol, anyways, once again, I love reviews, so post them please :)


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